1. What is Communication?

2. 3. The Four Main Goals of Communication • To inform – you

are providing information for use in decision making, but
aren't necessarily advocating a course of action • To request –
ask for a specific action by the receiver • To persuade – to
reinforce or change a receiver's belief about a topic and,
possibly, act on the belief • To build relationships – some
messages you send may have the simple goal of building good-
will between you and the receiver
3. 4. The Tao of Communication: Balanced Exchanges Receiving
Information = the Yin of Communication Sending Information
= the Yang of Communication Communication is a balance of
sending and receiving information. When the message is
effectively conferred by the sender and fully received and
comprehended by the receiver, excellent communication has
occurred. This balance can best be visualized with the
Yin/Yang symbol.
4. 5. The Tao of Communication: Balanced Exchanges Receiving:
The Yin of Communication Good communication is not about
clever techniques, it is about sincere understanding. Learn to
listen. Show people that their thoughts and insights are
important to you. Use silence to encourage other people to talk.
Silence, listening and caring about the answers is a great
conversation skill. Strive to understand others. Put yourself in
the other person’s shoes and try to see things through his or
her eyes. Learn to listen to body language and emotions and to
hear what isn‘t being said.
5. 6. The Tao of Communication: Balanced Exchanges Sending:
The Yang of Communication Learn how to communicate
effectively your ideas to others. To speak effectively, avoid both
too little and too much communication. Break complex
messages into parts and explain the relationship of the parts.
Focus is everything. Don't dilute your message. Don't cloud the
main issue by insignificant information.
6. 7. The Tao of Communication: Balanced Exchanges Forms
(How?) Yin (Receiving) Yang (Sending) Purposes Listening
Speaking (Why?) Watching Showing Reading Writing Yin
(Receiving) Yang (Sending) Learning Educating Understanding
Persuading Being Inspired Inspiring
7. 8. Verbal Communication Verbal communication is the ability
to use speech to explain and present your ideas in clearly and
effectively. This includes the ability to tailor your delivery to a
given audience and using appropriate styles and approaches
such as the tone and volume of your voice to convey emotion
and feeling and information. Speaking can be looked at in two
major areas: interpersonal and public speaking. Since the
majority of speaking is an interpersonal process, to
communicate effectively we must not simply clean up our
language, but learn to relate to people.
8. 9. Interpersonal Verbal Communication In interpersonal
speaking, etiquette is very important. To be an effective
communicator one must speak in a manner that is not
offending to the receiver. Etiquette also plays an important
role.
9. 10. Public Speaking The other major area of speaking is public
speaking. Some of the major areas of public speaking are
speaking to persuade, speaking to inform, and speaking to
inspire or motivate.
10. 11. 6 Verbal Communication Tips • Develop your voice –
A high whiney voice is not perceived to be one of authority. •
Slow down – People will perceive you as nervous and unsure of
yourself if you talk fast. • Animate your voice – Avoid a
monotone. Use dynamics. Your pitch should raise and
lower. • Enunciate your words – Speak clearly. Don’t
mumble. • Use appropriate volume – Use a volume that is
appropriate for the setting. Speak more softly when you are
alone and close. Speak louder when you are speaking to larger
groups or across larger spaces. • Pronounce your words
 correctly – People will judge your competency through your
vocabulary. If you aren’t sure how to say a word, don’t use it.
11. 12. Nonverbal Communication Nonverbal communication
is the process of communicating through sending and receiving
wordless messages. Examples of nonverbal communication:
•Gestures •Body language or posture •Facial expression •Eye
contact •Clothing •Symbols and informational graphics
12. 13. Eye Contact In the United States it is customary for
two people who are having a conversation to maintain eye
contact during most or all of the conversation. People who are
unable to maintain eye contact during a conversation are often
looked upon as untrustworthy or rude. However, in many
Asian and African cultures, eye contact is viewed in a different
way. In those cultures, it is considered disrespectful to look an
elder or authority figure in the eyes during a conversation. By
avoiding eye contact they are showing their reverence for the
other person. It is easy to see how such a small gesture would
be capable of causing many misunderstandings for a person
from one of these cultures.
13. 14. Body Language With your body language, "you're
constantly saying either, "Welcome, I'm open for business," or,
"Go away, I'm closed for business." You may be showing that
you are an opportunity or a threat; a friend or a foe; confident
or uncomfortable; telling the truth or spouting lies. When you
are operating from inside a really useful attitude, such as
enthusiasm, curiosity, and humility, your body language tends
to take care of itself and sends out unmistakable signals of
openness. Open body language - together with open facial
expressions – includes uncrossed arms and legs, ease in facing
the person, good eye contact, smiling, standing or sitting erect,
leaning forward, flexible shoulders, and a generally relaxed
aura. Open body language makes expressive use of hands,
arms, legs, and feet.
14. 15. Visual Communication Visual communication as the
name suggests is communication through visual form. It is the
conveyance of ideas and information in forms that can be read
or looked upon. Primarily associated with two dimensional
images, it includes: signs, typography, drawing, graphic design,
illustration, color and electronic resources. It solely relies on
vision. Any informational source produced in a two or three
dimensional form is visual communication.
15. 16. Visual Communication Artists use visual
communication to express their thoughts and opinions. Some
even use their art to persuade the viewer to feel a certain way
about a certain topic.
16. 17. Review Communication is the exchange of thoughts,
feelings or ideas between two or more people. The four main
goals of communication are: •To inform •To request •To
persuade •To build relationships The Tao of communication:
Effective communication achieves a balance between the
sender of information and the receiver of information. The
two main types of communication are verbal and nonverbal.
Verbal communication is the use of speech to communicate.
Nonverbal communication is the use of gestures, body
language, images, and symbols to communicate.